Child&#39;s easy-feeding dish



y 1954 J. w. BROWN CHILD'S EASY-FEEDING DISH Filed Sept. 13, 1952 w h-PEl V IN VEN TOR. MZZK 350W Patented July 20, 1954 UNITED STATES attainilATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a childrens easyfeeding dish.

vIt is an object of the present invention to provide a childrenseasy-feeding dish which will aid small children both to iearn to eat andto keep the food in the dish.

It is another objectof the present invention to provide a childrenseasy-feedin dish which has a removable ring which permits access to theinterior of the dish for ready and easy cleaning.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide achildrens easy-feeding dish which comprises a partitioned dish and aremovable ring, the ring being positioned above the dish to serve as aconvenient ledge under which the child may easily get food into hisspoon and which prevents him or her from scraping food out onto thetable during eating.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide achildrenseasy-feeding dish of 4 the above type which includes a hotwater jacket for keeping the food. warm during eating.

It is still another object of .the present invention to provide achildrens easy-feeding dish which is adapted to be fabricated entirelyof ance, is durable andunbreakable, and which is easyf or the child touse and is efficient in operation.

For otherobjects and for a better understandin of the invention,reference may be had to the following detailed descriptiontaken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is an exploded perspective View of the parts comprising thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view shown partly in section to show theinterior construction thereof and Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 butshowing one of the parts of the invention applied to a plain dishwhereas above in Figs. 1 and 2 there is shown a modified dish kept warmby a hot water jacket.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, and in the practice of my invention,there is shown a childrens easy-feeding dish, referred to collectivelyas it, consisting of a plastic dish H having integrally formedcompartments l2 provided by partitions l3 and a circular plastic ring Hiadapted to coincide with the upper edge l5 of the dish H in a manner tobe hereinafter described.

The dish ii is provided with an integrally formed double wall and bottom56 whereby to provide an annular compartment ll receiving hot water itby means of an opening 59 provided in the edge ii the opening 59communicating with the compartment El and being threaded internaily toreceive an externally threaded plug 28.

A plurality of spaced, upwardly extendin pins 2 ihaving enlargedheads 22are rigidly secured to the edge It. I prefer to have the lower portionsof the pins threaded to engage threaded openings 23 provided in the edgeit, but it is obvious that the pins 2! may be secured to the edge H5 inany suitable manner.

The ringit is wider than the edge It, and is provided with integrallyformed brackets 24 which are wider than the upper edges of thepartitions, which they normally overlie.

The ring i l is further provided with key-hole slots 25 having enlargedportions adapted to pass the enlarged heads 22 and narrow portionsadapted to pass the pins 2! below the enlarged heads. The ring it isfurther provided with an opening 26 adapted to receive the plug 26.

To assemble, the ring i is placed on top of the edge E5 of the dish Hwith the enlarged heads 22 of the pins iii in the enlarged portions ofthe key-hole slots 25 and the plu 29 in the opening 26. Angular rotationof the ring l i relative to the edge is brings the pins Bl into thenarrow portions of the openings 25, with the ring 54 surrounding thenarrow portions of the openings 2 5 engaging the undersurface of theenlarged heads 22 whereby to securely fasten the ring to the dish. Theopening 26 is elongated to permit movement within its confines by theplug 20.

Referring now particularly to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the ring isoverhangs the edge l5 thereby providing a ledge under which the childmay easily get food into his spoon 21. The brackets 24 provide similarledges over the partitions l3 and it will be readily apparent thatwherever the spoon 2i is used it will contact an appropriate ledg formedby the ring it or the brackets 25 and will effectively prevent the childfrom scraping food out onto the table during eating.

The hot water 48 is compartment i'l will keep the food warm during theeating operation.

By reversing the rotation of the ring it relative to the dish H and edge15 thereof, the pins 2 I and enlarged heads 22 will move from the narrowportions to the enlarged portions of the keyhole slots 25, permittingeasy and ready removal of the ring and permitting access to the variousparts of the dish for cleaning purposes.

When the dish has been cleansed, the hot water I8 may be removed byunscrewing the plug 20 and emptying the water therefrom, to be laterreplaced with more hot water when the dish is to be used again.

Referring now particularly to Fig. 3, there is shown the attachment ofthe ring 14 to a conventional dish I l', the rim of the dish beingprovided with the pins 2! and enlarged heads 22 as in the previous form,but lacking the compartments l3 and the double wall and bottom l6, aswell as the opening I9 and plug 20. Thus, it is seen that with slightmodification that the ring l4 may be used with conventional dishes nowin use as an attachment.

It should now be apparent that there has been provided a childrenseasy-feeding dish which will aid small children both to learn to eatproperly and to keep the food in the dish and which has a removable ringwhich permits ready access to the interior of the dish for cleaning, thering being positioned above the dish to serve as a convenient ledgeunder which the child may easily get food into his spoon and whichprevents him from scraping food out onto the table during eating. Itshould also be apparent that there has been provided a dish of the abovetype which includes a hot water jacket for keeping the food warm duringeating and which dish is adapted to be fabricated entirely of plastic inmass production thereby making it accessible to the consumer at arelatively low cost.

While various changes may be made in the detailed construction, it shallbe understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope ofthe present invention as defined by the appended claims:

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of my invention, what isclaimed is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, the combination of a substantiallycircular plastic dish having an integrally formed, upwardly extending,peripheral wall, a substantially circular plastic ring adapted tooverlie the upper edge of said peripheral wall, said ring being widerthan said upper edge of said wall and adapted to overhang said edge atthe inner side of said peripheral wall, a plurality of partitionsintegrally formed in said dish and peripheral wall whereby to dividesaid dish into a plurality of compartments, a plurality of armsintegrally formed in said ring and adapted to overlie the upper edges ofsaid partitions, said arms being wider than the upper edges of saidpartitions whereby to overhang said upper edges at either side thereof,a plurality of spaced pins rigidly secured to the upper edge of saidwall, said pins having enlarged heads, said ring having a plurality ofspaced substantially key-hole shaped slots having enlarged portions andnarrow portions, said enlarged heads being adapted to enter saidenlarged portions but larger than said narrow portions of said keyholeslots whereby to releasably secure said ring to said upper edge of saidperipheral wall upon angular rotation of said ring relative to saidupper edge of said peripheral wall.

2. As a new article of manufacture, the combination of a substantiallycircular plastic dish having an integrally formed, upwardly extendingperipheral wall, a substantially circular plastic ring adapted tooverlie the upper edge of said peripheral wall, said ring being widerthan said upper edge of said peripheral wall and adapted to overhangsaid edge at the inner side of said wall, an integrally formed innerwall and bottom for said dish whereby to provide a hot watercompartment, said upper edge of said wall having an openingcommunicating with said compartment, said opening being substantiallycircular, with a threaded periphery, an externally threaded plug to bescrewed into said opening, a plurality of partitions integrally formedin said inner wall and bottom whereby to divide said dish into aplurality of compartments, a plurality of arms integrally formed in saidring and adapted to overlie the upper edges of said partitions, saidarms being wider than the upper edges of said partitions whereby tooverhang said upper edges at either side thereof, a plurality of boltsrigidly secured to the upper edge of said peripheral wall, enlargedheads on said bolts, said ring having a plurality of correspondingsubstantially key-hole shaped slots having enlarged portions and narrowportions, said enlarged heads being adapted to enter said enlargedportions but being larger than said narrow portions, said ring furtherhav ing an elongated opening adapted to receive said plug, whereby toreleasably secure said ring to said dish at the upper edge of saidperipheral wall upon angular rotation of said ring relative to saidupper edge of said peripheral wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 95,742 Stevens Oct. 12, 1869 868,312 Wilcox Oct. 15, 1907889,434 Bustanoby June 2, 1908 1,123,793 Pick Jan. 5, 1915 1,474,108Downey Nov. 13, 1923 1,582,290 Marchessault Apr. 27, 1926 2,108,863Kieft Feb. 22, 1938 2,240,602 Bartsch May 6, 1941 2,438,546 Davis Mar.30, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 4,473 Great Britain Mar.30, 1886 331,025 Great Britain June 26, 1930

